Tom Haering

Journal publications [2]

2024

Haering T., Legault R., Torres F., Ljubic I., Bierlaire M. (2024). Exact Algorithms for Continuous Pricing with Advanced Discrete Choice Demand Models. OR Spectrum


@Article{HaerLegaTorrLjubBier24,
  author = {Tom Haering and Robin Legault and {Fabian Alejandro} Torres and Ivana Ljubic and Michel Bierlaire},
  title = {Exact Algorithms for Continuous Pricing with Advanced Discrete Choice Demand Models},
  journal = {OR Spectrum},
  year = {2024},
  DOI = {10.1007/s00291-024-00799-3},
  note = {Accepted on Oct 29, 2024}}}

2022

Manser P., Haering T., Hillel T., Pougala J., Krueger R., Bierlaire M. (2022). Estimating flexibility preferences to resolve temporal scheduling conflicts in activity-based modelling. Transportation

This paper presents a novel activity-based demand model that combines an optimisation framework for continuous temporal scheduling decisions (i.e. activity timings and durations) with traditional discrete choice models for non-temporal choice dimensions (i.e. activity participation, number and type of tours, and destinations). The central idea of our approach is that individuals resolve temporal scheduling conflicts that arise from overlapping activities, e.g. needing to work and desiring to shop at the same time, in order to maximise their daily utility. Flexibility parameters capture behavioural preferences that penalise deviations from desired timings. This framework has three advantages over existing activity-based modelling approaches: (i) the time conflicts between different temporal scheduling decisions including the activity sequence are treated jointly; (ii) flexibility parameters follow a utility maximisation approach; and (iii) the framework can be used to estimate and simulate a city-scale case study in reasonable time. We introduce an estimation routine that allows flexibility parameters to be estimated using real-world observations as well as a simulation routine to efficiently resolve temporal conflicts using an optimisation model. The framework is applied to the full-time workers of a synthetic population for the city of Lausanne, Switzerland. We validate the model results against reported schedules. The results demonstrate the capabilities of our approach to reproduce empirical observations in a real-world case study.
```
@Article{MansHaerHillPougKrueBier22,
  author = {Patrick Manser and Tom Haering and Tim Hillel and Janody Pougala and Rico Krueger and Michel Bierlaire},
  title = {Estimating flexibility preferences to resolve temporal scheduling conflicts in activity-based modelling},
  journal = {Transportation},
  year = {2022},
  DOI = {10.1007/s11116-022-10330-8},
  note = {Accepted on Aug 22, 2022}}}
```

Technical reports [4]

2024

Haering T., Legault R., Torres F., Bierlaire M. (2024). Heuristics and Exact Algorithms for Choice-Based Capacitated and Uncapacitated Continuous Pricing. Report TRANSP-OR 240905


@TechReport{HaerLegaTorrBier2024,
  author = {Tom Haering and Robin Legault and {Fabian Alejandro} Torres and Michel Bierlaire},
  title = {Heuristics and Exact Algorithms for Choice-Based Capacitated and Uncapacitated Continuous Pricing},
  institution = {Transport and Mobility Laboratory, Ecole Polytechnique F\'ed\'erale de Lausanne},
  year = {2024},
  type = {Technical Report},
  number = {TRANSP-OR 240905},
  address = {Lausanne, Switzerland}}}

2023

Haering T., Legault R., Torres F., Ljubic I., Bierlaire M. (2023). Exact Algorithms for Continuous Pricing with Advanced Discrete Choice Demand Models. Report TRANSP-OR 231211


@TechReport{HaerLegaTorrLjubBier2023,
  author = {Tom Haering and Robin Legault and {Fabian Alejandro} Torres and Ivana Ljubic and Michel Bierlaire},
  title = {Exact Algorithms for Continuous Pricing with Advanced Discrete Choice Demand Models},
  institution = {Transport and Mobility Laboratory, Ecole Polytechnique F\'ed\'erale de Lausanne},
  year = {2023},
  type = {Technical Report},
  number = {TRANSP-OR 231211},
  address = {Lausanne, Switzerland}}}

2022

Bataillard L., Pougala J., Haering T., Bierlaire M. (2022). A comparative analysis of optimization algorithms for activity-based applications. Report TRANSP-OR 220610


@TechReport{BataPougHaerBier22,
  author = {Luca Bataillard and Janody Pougala and Tom Haering and Michel Bierlaire},
  title = {A comparative analysis of optimization algorithms for activity-based applications},
  institution = {Transport and Mobility Laboratory, Ecole Polytechnique F\'ed\'erale de Lausanne},
  year = {2022},
  type = {Technical Report},
  number = {TRANSP-OR 220610},
  address = {Lausanne, Switzerland}}}

2021

Manser P., Haering T., Hillel T., Pougala J., Krueger R., Bierlaire M. (2021). Resolving temporal scheduling conflicts in activity-based modelling. Report TRANSP-OR 211209


@TechReport{ManserEtAl2021,
  author = {Patrick Manser and Tom Haering and Tim Hillel and Janody Pougala and Rico Krueger and Michel Bierlaire},
  title = {Resolving temporal scheduling conflicts in activity-based modelling},
  institution = {Transport and Mobility Laboratory, Ecole Polytechnique F\'ed\'erale de Lausanne},
  year = {2021},
  type = {Technical Report},
  number = {TRANSP-OR 211209},
  address = {Lausanne, Switzerland}}}

Articles in conference proceedings [7]

2024

Haering T., Legault R., Torres F., Bierlaire M. (2024) Fast Algorithms for Capacitated Continuous Pricing with Discrete Choice Demand Models. Proceedings of the 24th Swiss Transport Research Conference (STRC), 15-17 May, Ascona, Switzerland


@InProceedings{Haering_STRC2024,
  author = {Tom Haering and Robin Legault and {Fabian Alejandro} Torres and Michel Bierlaire},
  title = {Fast Algorithms for Capacitated Continuous Pricing with Discrete Choice Demand Models},
  booktime = {Proceedings of the 24th Swiss Transport Research Conference (STRC), 15-17 May},
  year = {2024},
  address = {Ascona, Switzerland}}}

2023

Haering T., Bierlaire M. (2023) A Spatial Branch and Bound Algorithm for Continuous Pricing with Advanced Discrete Choice Demand Modeling. Proceedings of the 23rd Swiss Transport Research Conference (STRC), 10-12 May, Ascona, Switzerland


@InProceedings{Haering_STRC2023,
  author = {Tom Haering and Michel Bierlaire},
  title = {A Spatial Branch and Bound Algorithm for Continuous Pricing with Advanced Discrete Choice Demand Modeling},
  booktime = {Proceedings of the 23rd Swiss Transport Research Conference (STRC), 10-12 May},
  year = {2023},
  address = {Ascona, Switzerland}}}

2022

Haering T., Bongiovanni C., Bierlaire M. (2022) A Benders decomposition for maximum simulated likelihood estimation of advanced discrete choice models. Proceedings of the 10th symposium of the European Association for Research in Transportation (hEART) (hEART), 1-3 June 2022, Leuven, Belgium


@InProceedings{haering_heart2022,
  author = {Tom Haering and Claudia Bongiovanni and Michel Bierlaire},
  title = {A Benders decomposition for maximum simulated likelihood estimation of advanced discrete choice models},
  booktime = {Proceedings of the 10th symposium of the European Association for Research in Transportation (hEART) (hEART), 1-3 June 2022},
  year = {2022},
  address = {Leuven, Belgium}}}

Haering T., Bongiovanni C., Bierlaire M. (2022) A Benders decomposition for maximum simulated likelihood estimation of advanced discrete choice models. Proceedings of the 22nd Swiss Transport Research Conference (STRC), 18-20 May, Ascona, Switzerland


@InProceedings{Haering_STRC2022,
  author = {Tom Haering and Claudia Bongiovanni and Michel Bierlaire},
  title = {A Benders decomposition for maximum simulated likelihood estimation of advanced discrete choice models},
  booktime = {Proceedings of the 22nd Swiss Transport Research Conference (STRC), 18-20 May},
  year = {2022},
  address = {Ascona, Switzerland}}}

Haering T., Bongiovanni C., Bierlaire M. (2022) A Benders decomposition for maximum simulated likelihood estimation of advanced discrete choice models. Proceedings of the 11th Triennial Symposium on Transportation Analysis (TRISTAN XI) (STRC), 19-25 June, , Mauritius


@InProceedings{haering_TRISTAN2022,
  author = {Tom Haering and Claudia Bongiovanni and Michel Bierlaire},
  title = {A Benders decomposition for maximum simulated likelihood estimation of advanced discrete choice models},
  booktime = {Proceedings of the 11th Triennial Symposium on Transportation Analysis (TRISTAN XI) (STRC), 19-25 June},
  year = {2022},
  address = {, Mauritius}}}

Salvadé N., Hillel T., Pougala J., Haering T., Bierlaire M. (2022) Representing location choice within activity-based models. Proceedings of the 22nd Swiss Transport Research Conference (STRC), 18-20 May, Ascona, Switzerland


@InProceedings{Salvade_STRC2022,
  author = {Nicolas Salvad\'e and Tim Hillel and Janody Pougala and Tom Haering and Michel Bierlaire},
  title = {Representing location choice within activity-based models},
  booktime = {Proceedings of the 22nd Swiss Transport Research Conference (STRC), 18-20 May},
  year = {2022},
  address = {Ascona, Switzerland}}}

2021

Haering T., Manser P., Hillel T., Pougala J., Krueger R., Bierlaire M. (2021) Resolving time conflicts in activity-based scheduling: A case study of Lausanne. Proceedings of the 21st Swiss Transport Research Conference (STRC), 12-14 September, Ascona, Switzerland


@InProceedings{Haering_STRC2021,
  author = {Tom Haering and Patrick Manser and Tim Hillel and Janody Pougala and Rico Krueger and Michel Bierlaire},
  title = {Resolving time conflicts in activity-based scheduling: A case study of Lausanne},
  booktime = {Proceedings of the 21st Swiss Transport Research Conference (STRC), 12-14 September},
  year = {2021},
  address = {Ascona, Switzerland}}}

Talks [12]

2024

Haering T., Legault R., Bierlaire M. Fast Algorithms for (Capacitated) Continuous Pricing with Discrete Choice Demand Models June 30, 2024. EURO 2024, Copenhagen, Denmark.


@Misc{Haering_EURO2024,
  author = {Tom Haering and Robin Legault and Michel Bierlaire},
  title = {Fast Algorithms for (Capacitated) Continuous Pricing with Discrete

Choice Demand Models},
  howpublished = {\url{https://transp-or.epfl.ch/documents/talks/Haering_EURO2024.pdf}},
  year = {2024},
  note = {Presented at EURO 2024, Copenhagen, Denmark}}}

Haering T., Legault R., Torres F., Bierlaire M. Fast Algorithms for (Capacitated) Continuous Pricing with Discrete Choice Demand Models June 27, 2024. Swiss OR Days 2024, Geneva, Switzerland.


@Misc{Haering_SORD_2024,
  author = {Tom Haering and Robin Legault and {Fabian Alejandro} Torres and Michel Bierlaire},
  title = {Fast Algorithms for (Capacitated) Continuous Pricing with Discrete

Choice Demand Models},
  howpublished = {\url{https://transp-or.epfl.ch/documents/talks/Haering_SORD_2024.pdf}},
  year = {2024},
  note = {Presented at Swiss OR Days 2024, Geneva, Switzerland}}}

Haering T., Legault R., Torres F., Bierlaire M. Fast algorithms for (capacitated) continuous pricing with discrete choice demand models June 07, 2024. 16th workshop on Discrete Choice Models, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.


@Misc{2024Haering_DCM,
  author = {Tom Haering and Robin Legault and {Fabian Alejandro} Torres and Michel Bierlaire},
  title = {Fast algorithms for (capacitated) continuous pricing with discrete choice

demand models},
  howpublished = {\url{https://transp-or.epfl.ch/documents/talks/2024Haering_DCM.pdf}},
  year = {2024},
  note = {Presented at 16th workshop on Discrete Choice Models, Ecole Polytechnique F\éd\érale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland}}}

Haering T., Legault R., Torres F., Bierlaire M. Fast Algorithms for (Capacitated) Continuous Pricing with Discrete Choice Demand Models May 15, 2024. STRC 2024, Monte Veritá, Ascona, Switzerland.


@Misc{Haering_STRC2024,
  author = {Tom Haering and Robin Legault and {Fabian Alejandro} Torres and Michel Bierlaire},
  title = {Fast Algorithms for (Capacitated) Continuous Pricing with Discrete

Choice Demand Models},
  howpublished = {\url{https://transp-or.epfl.ch/documents/talks/Haering_STRC2024.pdf}},
  year = {2024},
  note = {Presented at STRC 2024, Monte Verit\á, Ascona, Switzerland}}}

Haering T., Torres F., Bierlaire M. Fast Algorithms for Capacitated Continuous Pricing with Discrete Choice Demand Models February 05, 2024. 2nd EPFL Symposium on Transportation Research, EPFL, Barcelona, Spain.


@Misc{2024HaeringBarcelona,
  author = {Tom Haering and {Fabian Alejandro} Torres and Michel Bierlaire},
  title = {Fast Algorithms for Capacitated Continuous Pricing with Discrete Choice

Demand Models},
  howpublished = {\url{https://transp-or.epfl.ch/documents/talks/2024HaeringBarcelona.pdf}},
  year = {2024},
  note = {Presented at 2nd EPFL Symposium on Transportation Research, EPFL, Barcelona, Spain}}}

2023

Haering T., Ljubic I., Bierlaire M. Large-Scale Continuous Pricing With Discrete Choice Demand Modeling September 07, 2023. 11th Symposium of the European Association for Research in Transportation, ETHZ, Zurich, Switzerland.


@Misc{Haering_hEART2023,
  author = {Tom Haering and Ivana Ljubic and Michel Bierlaire},
  title = {Large-Scale Continuous Pricing With Discrete Choice Demand Modeling

},
  howpublished = {\url{https://transp-or.epfl.ch/documents/talks/Haering_hEART2023.pdf}},
  year = {2023},
  note = {Presented at 11th Symposium of the European Association for Research in Transportation, ETHZ, Zurich, Switzerland}}}

Haering T., Bierlaire M. Continuous Pricing with Advanced Discrete Choice Demand Modeling: A Spatial Branch and Benders Decomposition Algorithm September 07, 2023. 19th Swiss Operations Research Days, USI, Lugano, Switzerland.


@Misc{Haering_SwissOR2023,
  author = {Tom Haering and Michel Bierlaire},
  title = {Continuous Pricing with Advanced Discrete Choice Demand Modeling: A Spatial Branch and Benders Decomposition Algorithm

},
  howpublished = {\url{https://transp-or.epfl.ch/documents/talks/Haering_SwissOR2023.pdf}},
  year = {2023},
  note = {Presented at 19th Swiss Operations Research Days, USI, Lugano, Switzerland}}}

Haering T., Bierlaire M. A Spatial Branch and Bound Algorithm for Continuous Pricing with Advanced Discrete Choice Demand Modeling May 10, 2023. STRC 2023, Monte Veritá, Ascona, Switzerland.


@Misc{Haering_STRC2023,
  author = {Tom Haering and Michel Bierlaire},
  title = {A Spatial Branch and Bound Algorithm for Continuous Pricing with Advanced Discrete Choice Demand Modeling

},
  howpublished = {\url{https://transp-or.epfl.ch/documents/talks/Haering_STRC2023.pdf}},
  year = {2023},
  note = {Presented at STRC 2023, Monte Verit\á, Ascona, Switzerland}}}

2022

Haering T., Bongiovanni C., Bierlaire M. A Benders decomposition for maximum simulated likelihood estimation of advanced discrete choice models June 23, 2022. 11th Triennial Symposium on Transportation Analysis (TRISTAN XI), Mauritius.


@Misc{haering_TRISTAN2022,
  author = {Tom Haering and Claudia Bongiovanni and Michel Bierlaire},
  title = {A Benders decomposition for maximum simulated likelihood estimation of advanced discrete choice models},
  howpublished = {\url{https://transp-or.epfl.ch/documents/talks/haering_TRISTAN2022.pdf}},
  year = {2022},
  note = {Presented at 11th Triennial Symposium on Transportation Analysis (TRISTAN XI), Mauritius}}}

Haering T., Bongiovanni C., Bierlaire M. A Benders decomposition for maximum simulated likelihood estimation of advanced discrete choice models June 02, 2022. hEART 2022: 10th Symposium of the European Association for Research in Transportation, Leuven, Belgium.


@Misc{haering_heart2022,
  author = {Tom Haering and Claudia Bongiovanni and Michel Bierlaire},
  title = {A Benders decomposition for maximum simulated likelihood estimation of advanced discrete choice models},
  howpublished = {\url{https://transp-or.epfl.ch/documents/talks/haering_heart2022.pdf}},
  year = {2022},
  note = {Presented at hEART 2022: 10th Symposium of the European Association for Research in Transportation, Leuven, Belgium}}}

Haering T., Bongiovanni C., Bierlaire M. A Benders decomposition for maximum simulated likelihood estimation of advanced discrete choice models May 19, 2022. 22nd Swiss Transport Research Conference (STRC), Monte Verità, Ascona, Switzerland.


@Misc{Haering_STRC2022,
  author = {Tom Haering and Claudia Bongiovanni and Michel Bierlaire},
  title = {A Benders decomposition for maximum simulated likelihood estimation of advanced discrete choice models},
  howpublished = {\url{https://transp-or.epfl.ch/documents/talks/Haering_STRC2022.pdf}},
  year = {2022},
  note = {Presented at 22nd Swiss Transport Research Conference (STRC), Monte Verit\à, Ascona, Switzerland}}}

2021

Haering T., Manser P., Hillel T., Pougala J., Krueger R., Bierlaire M. Resolving time conflicts in activity-based scheduling: A case study of Lausanne September 14, 2021. STRC 2021, Monte Veritá, Ascona, Switzerland.


@Misc{Haering_STRC2021,
  author = {Tom Haering and Patrick Manser and Tim Hillel and Janody Pougala and Rico Krueger and Michel Bierlaire},
  title = {Resolving time conflicts in activity-based scheduling: A case study of Lausanne},
  howpublished = {\url{https://transp-or.epfl.ch/documents/talks/Haering_STRC2021.pdf}},
  year = {2021},
  note = {Presented at STRC 2021, Monte Verit\á, Ascona, Switzerland}}}

Reviewing [1]

Transportation Letters: the International Journal of Transportation Research (1)

EPFL courses [4]

Spring 2024

Decision-aid methodologies in transportation.
- Level: Master
- Section: Civil Engineering
- Lecturers: Fabian Torres, Evangelos Paschalidis
- Teaching assistant: Tom Haering

Fall 2023

Introduction to optimization and operations research .
- Level: Bachelor
- Sections: Mechanical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Electrical and Electronics Engineering
- Lecturer: Michel Bierlaire
- Teaching assistants: Fabian Torres, L�a Ricard, Marija Kukic, Tom Haering, Negar Rezvany

Spring 2023

Decision-aid methodologies in transportation.
- Level: Master
- Section: Civil Engineering
- Lecturers: Fabian Torres, Evangelos Paschalidis
- Teaching assistants: Selin Atac, Tom Haering

Fall 2022

Mathematical modeling of behavior.
- Level: Master
- Sections: Mathematics, Master in Financial Engineering
- Lecturer: Michel Bierlaire
- Teaching assistants: Silvia Varotto, Nicola Ortelli, Cloe Cortes Balcells, Tom Haering
- Webpage: https://moodle.epfl.ch/course/view.php?id=1001

Lectures [5]

2024

Introduction, Logit Estimation and Testing.
- Discrete Choice Analysis: Predicting Individual Behavior and Market Demand, EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland
- Feb 11, 2024
- Lecturer: Tom Haering
- Assistants: Negar Rezvany, Nicola Ortelli, Fabian Torres

2023

Hybrid choice models.
- Discrete Choice Analysis: Predicting Individual Behavior and Market Demand, EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland
- Feb 01, 2023
- Lecturer: Nicola Ortelli
- Assistants: Tom Haering, Evangelos Paschalidis, Janody Pougala
Nested logit; Aggregate forecasting.
- Discrete Choice Analysis: Predicting Individual Behavior and Market Demand, EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland
- Jan 30, 2023
- Lecturer: Cloe Cortes Balcells
- Assistants: Selin Atac, Tom Haering, Negar Rezvany
Logit Estimation and Specification Testing.
- Discrete Choice Analysis: Predicting Individual Behavior and Market Demand, EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland
- Jan 29, 2023
- Lecturer: Tom Haering
- Assistants: Cloe Cortes Balcells, Marija Kukic, Nicola Ortelli

2022

Nested Logit; Aggregate Forecasting.
- Discrete Choice Analysis: Predicting Individual Behavior and Market Demand, EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland
- Mar 08, 2022
- Lecturer: Selin Atac
- Assistants: Cloe Cortes Balcells, Tom Haering

MSc theses [4]

2024-2025

Integrating Advanced Discrete Choice Models into the Capacitated Facility Location Problem with Decentralized Priority Queues, Quoc Dang Tran (Mathematics)
- Supervision: Tom Haering, Léa Ricard
- External expert: Virginie Lurkin

2024

Stochastic on-demand electric vehicle routing and charge scheduling, Mohamed Essayouti (Mathematics)
- Supervision: Léa Ricard, Tom Haering, Michel Bierlaire
- External expert: Claudia Bongiovanni

2022

Stochastic and robust hydropower unit commitment, Pierre Tarazi (Electrical and Electronics Engineering)
- Supervision: Tom Haering, Nicola Ortelli
- External expert: Maziar Kermani

2021-2022

Representing destination choice sets within activity-based models, Nicolas Salvadé (Civil Engineering)
- Supervision: Janody Pougala, Tom Haering, Tim Hillel
- External expert: Patrick Manser

Semester projects [4]

2024

Construction of an Itinerary Optimization Algorithm for a Trip Planning App, Gabriel André Veigas Marques

Supervision: Fabian Torres, Tom Haering, Michel Bierlaire
The proliferation of mobile and web applications for travel planning necessitates advanced optimization algorithms to efficiently organize itineraries. This semester project aims to develop an innovative itinerary optimization algorithm for a trip planning application, addressing the Generalized Price-Collecting Traveling Salesman Problem with Resource Constraints. The algorithm's primary objective is to automate the organization of travel elements (hotels, restaurants, and activities) into a coherent daily schedule, optimizing for travel time, cost, and user preferences. The project begins by leveraging a recommendation algorithm that selects a set of events based on user input, consisting of activities, dining options, and accommodations. These events are organized into an extended set, allowing for greater flexibility and optimization potential. The core of the project involves the construction of an optimization algorithm that integrates travel time computations between events, using Google Maps API, and optimizes the sequence of events to minimize overall travel time, while considering the rank and cost of each event. Initial objectives include the implementation of travel time calculations and the development of a basic itinerary optimization model. Subsequent phases will expand the event set and refine the optimization model to balance travel time, event desirability, and cost, ultimately producing an itinerary that offers the best possible experience for the user.

2023

Targeting population to evaluate COVID-19 strategies based on activity-travel behavior., Antoine Goupil De Bouillé

Supervision: Cloe Cortes Balcells, Tom Haering, Michel Bierlaire
Countries everywhere in the world have been adopting different policies to lower the toll of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Epidemiological and behavioral models have been widely used to guide decision-making. In this project, we aim at designing a methodology to optimize targeted COVID-19 policies. We will use a simulator provided by the TRANSP-OR lab. This simulator draws the probability of an agent getting infected given its socio-economic characteristics. We hope that this approach will provide insight on transmission and intervention that will complete what can be obtained with usual compartmental models (SIR). We will use health data (Sentinella or SARS-CoV-2) from FOPH. We will review different strategies to determine the trade-off between pharmaceutical interventions (vaccination) and non-pharmaceutical interventions. We will design these policies by accounting for socioeconomic variables of the population, such as age, gender, home address, and general health evaluation, and determine the optimal strategies according to different criteria.

2022

Modeling congestion in a competitive Facility Location Problem, Louise Lallemand[Internship]

Supervision: Tom Haering, Michel Bierlaire
Assigning the right Emergency Room (ER) to persons in medical need is a pivotal mission of the Emergency Medical Dispatcher (EMD). In order to minimize the delay between the call and the medical care, EMD need to take into account the travel time and the waiting time at the an ER. The goal of opening an ER is to maximize the demand capture, either to make profit or to relieve other ERs. To achieve this, it is possible to locate the facilities and assign them capacity of service: number of beds or staff members. In this report, a non-linear integer programming formulation is established to model this type of allocation. The formulation is agent-based to encompass individual disparities through discrete choice modelling (DCM).

A comparitive analysis of optimization algorithms for activity-based applications, Luca Bataillard (Computer science)

Supervision: Tom Haering, Janody Pougala, Michel Bierlaire
The starting point of this semester project is a Mixed Integer Linear Programming (MILP) optimization framework (Pougala et al, 2021), which simulates the scheduling of activities by considering that individuals try to optimize the utility (or satisfaction) they can gain from a given activity plan. Under a time budget constraint (e.g., 24h), the framework allows to integrate every spatio-temporal dimension of the activity-based paradigm (choice of activity participation, timing decisions, destination, mode, route...) simultaneously. The trade-offs occurring in the decision process are therefore captured explicitly. While the framework is functional, the MILP formulation proves to be limited when it comes to make it operational. Specifically, the dimension of the constraint space and the combinatorial nature of the problem significantly increases the computational time, often too high for practical use.The focus of the project is therefore on investigating a constraint programming approach, and its strengths and limitations compared to the MILP formulation. Constraint programming is a widely used optimization methodology, especially for scheduling applications, as the combinatorial nature of such problems suits the general framework of global constraints, domain filtering and constraint-propagation well. The main objective is to perform a comparative analysis of both optimization approaches on the given activity-based problems on selected case studies.